GLOBAL – Nokia’s new Asha mobile phones come with all the features you really need to connect with the best of the online world at an affordable price, plus some nice surprises you’d normally expect on more expensive devices.
They are colorful, stylish and powerful and they allow you to access social networks via the web on Nokia’s amazing browser. But, by delivering the essential functions for customers, they stop short of being fully-fledged smart phones, making them ultra efficient and simple to use. It also helps to keep the costs down.
Nokia Asha 303
First up is the Nokia Asha 303. Beautifully rendered in metallic finishes, the 2.6-inch touch screen, with QWERTY keypad, is driven by a massive 1GHz processor, making it as powerful as most smart phones.
This powerful engine contributes to delivering a very fast internet connection via 3G and WiFi. And when you factor in the upgraded Nokia Browser, which compresses the web for mobile by up to 90 per cent, you’ll find the internet experience on this phone hard to beat.
One click from your bright home screen, which is readable in direct sunlight, takes you to your favorite social networking site, as well as email and instant messenger, proving Nokia has listened to what their customers really want and need.
There’s also one-touch access to your music player, with 47 hours of play time on a single charge and a 3.2-megapixel camera.
The phone works in landscape for games and portrait for chat. It’s highly desirable to a huge market of younger, price-conscious users for around €115, depending on region.
That’s everything most people want on a smartphone for around a quarter of the price. Weighing just 97g and measuring 116.5mm x 55.7mm 13.9mm, the Asha 303 has a talk time of around eight hours and a standby time up to 30 days.
As well as Angry Birds Lite, The Nokia Asha 303 comes preinstalled with Facebook Chat, Whatsapp and even Nokia Maps for Series 40 (in selected markets). It will be available in the holiday season, before the new year. Check out the product page for extra details.
Key features: 3G, WiFi, Bluetooth and 1 GHz processor. Full QWERTY keypad. Display: 2.6-inch QVGA, up to 262k colors, capacitive touch. Readable in direct sunlight. Stereo FM Radio and Internet Radio, 47 hours music playback. 3.2 megapixel camera.
Dimensions: 116.5 x 55.7 x 13.9mm. Weight: 97g. Standby time: 30 days. Talk time: 7 hours. Angry Birds Lite pre-installed.
Colors: red, graphite, silver white, aqua, green, purple.
Nokia Asha 300
Next up, the Nokia Asha 300 also features a touchscreen and key pad. Like the 303 it has a 1GHz processor and 3G. Also preloaded with Angry Birds Lite, the 300 offers fast access to messaging, email and instant messaging. And upgraded Nokia Browser gives you swipe access to apps, music or games from the Nokia Store.
The Nokia Asha 300 comes with a 5-megapixel camera with video It also feature music player, FM radio, Bluetooth and memory card capacity of up to 32GB.
The 300 weighs in at 85g and measures a sleek 112.8mm x 49.5mm x 12.7mm and boasts talk time of 6.9 hours and an astonishing 22 days stand by time.
All this for an amazingly affordable price of around €85, depending on where you are. Also available in the fourth quarter of this year. And here’s the product page.
Key Features: 3G, HSPA Quadband and 1GHz processor. Touch interface with keypad. Display: 2.4-inch resistive touch display, with 262k colors. 5-megapixel camera with video recording at up to 25 fps. Stereo FM radio and MP3 music player. Angry Birds pre-installed.
Dimensions: 112.8 x 49.5 x 12.7mm.Weight: 85g. Standby time: 22 days. Talk time: 4.3 hours.
Colors: graphite, night Shade, gold, white silver, pink and red.
Nokia Asha 200
Third up is the Nokia Asha 200, featuring dual SIM with Easy Swap which allows you to switch one SIM without turning off the phone. And via the sim manager you can personalize user profiles for up to five sim cards.
The Nokia 200 also has shortcuts for social networking, email, IM and others including RenRen, Orkut and Flickr support. With support for up to 32 GB memory cards, you can listen to a choice of thousands of songs for up to 52 hours. Plus, you can snap away, capturing images with the 2-megapixel camera.
It weighs 105g and shapes up at 115.4mm x 61.1mm x 14mm. Talk time is up to 7hrs and there’s a 36-hour standby time. It’s out before the end of the year, expect to pay around €60, before any local taxes or operator subsidies. More on the product page.
Key Features: Dual SIM with Easy Swap and SIM manager to personalize up to five SIM cards. Full QWERTY keypad. High performing loudspeakers, enhanced stereo FM radio, FM Recording (where permitted), 52 hours of music playback. 2-megapixel camera with 4X zoom.
Dimensions: 115.5 x 61.1 x 14 mm. Weight: 105g. Standby time: 36 days. Talk time: 7 hours
Nokia Asha 201
Nokia Asha 201 is the single SIM version of the 200 and is aimed at young music lovers. Instead of the extra SIM capacity you get a loud, loudspeaker and superb FM radio.
You get the same music storage and listening time as the 200, as well as social networking, including support for the superb WhatsApp, messaging app, easily downloadable from the preloaded shortcut or via the Nokia Store.
Measuring 115.4 mm x 61.1 mm x 14 mm and weighing 105g, the 201 has a talk time of up to seven hours and standby time of 35 days. Out early next year, it’s expected to cost around the same as the 200. More on the product page and on the potential impact of these phones.
Key Features: Full QWERTY keypad. One-click access to social networking, email, Nokia Messaging, Whatsapp and Facebook chat. High performing loudspeakers, enhanced stereo FM radio, FM Recording (where permitted) 2-megapixel camera with 4X digital zoom. Access to Webapps.
Dimensions: 115.4 x 61.1 x 14 mm. Weight: 105g. Standby time: 35 days. Talk time: 7 hours. Display: 2.4-inch QVGA, up to 262k colors.
